Sports Business Conversations

Brian Ansah is a former University of Minnesota track athlete whose journey into entrepreneurship began not on the podium—but in recovery. After tearing his ACL, Brian suddenly found himself with time on his hands, and a lot of uncertainty about what came next. But instead of sitting still, he teamed up with his best friend, who, at the time, was recovering from an accident, to figure out their bu...

If you would, think back to the last time you got together with some friends after work to hang out for a bit. Maybe you grab some dinner, probably have a drink or two, shoot the breeze for a while. Do remember what you talked about? Was it anything, say, productive? If you’re Ellen Hyslop , co-Founder of The Gist , that dinner out with friends in 2017 led to the creation of one of the fastest gro...

I’m wondering what you think of when you hear that sound? What goes through your mind? I’ll bet it’s something to do with F1 racing. Cars that look more like fighter jets than automobiles. Global destinations at exquisite racetracks. Things moving at such high speed that they’re more blurs than physical objects. But what Jon Gardner hopes you’ll start thinking about is dinner and drinks. That’s be...

“The rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated”. It’s a quote that’s attributed to Mark Twain, who was the subject of one of the first ever celebrity death hoxes. It was basically his way of saying “Slow your roll, people. I’m still around and producing great work”. It’s a sentiment that Natasha Sinagoga , Senior Vice President Market Sales at Ampersand , can empathize with. Sinagoga and A...

You may have heard that it’s the dawn of a new age in college sports. Actually, that’s underselling it. Let’s put it this way: college sports as you know it is over. Finito. Kaput. In it’s place is… well, I think we’re still figuring out what that is. But with all the conference realignment, changes to the college football playoff, NIL and direct payments to players, there’s one thing we know with...

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but soccer is having a bit of a moment here in the US. The MLS continues to grow, Messi came to play in Miami, the US Women are literally the gold standard, and a lot of Americans became fully vested in a Welsh town called Wrexham. Few people know more about this growth than this episode’s guest, Justin Papadakis , the Deputy CEO & Chief Real Estate Officer...

With House v NCAA now officially settled law, we took time to circle back with Dr Dan Rascher , the lead economist on the case, Director of Academic Programs of the USF Sport Management Program , and according to some, one of the most powerful people in college football . Dr Rascher played an integral role in the case by helping unravel the complex economics of college sports. In doing so, he had...

I’m going to level with you. Doing this whole podcasting thing isn’t exactly for the feint of heart, you know? It’s a lot of work. Scheduling guests, recording episodes, editing (ugh, the editing), posting, promoting, social media (ugh, socials…) All the while wondering if anyone is listening… So when you you get a like, or a rating, or a positive comment, it can be pretty cool. But when you get a...

There’s an African expression that people who serve in the Navy hear a lot: “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” Basically it means that your skill isn’t developed unless you find yourself in tough situations. No one knows this better than Brandon Doll , Founder of Sports and Entertainment Advisors . After leaving the comparatively smooth seas of the US Navy, Doll found himself working for...

Welcome to the 72nd episode of the Sports Business Conversations podcast. We wanted to mention the number of episodes to give you a little perspective of the number of people we’ve had a chance to talk to since launching this show a few years ago. Over 70 people who are leading, changing, and improving sports business in different ways. Each of the brings things to the table that have helped them...

We all have obstacles that we face in life. Sometimes these might seem petty. Like, oh my god the wifi is so slow today. But oftentimes these obstacles may be more substantial. Things like unhappiness in a job. Loneliness. Addiction. Relationship challenges. The list, unfortunately, goes on. These things can impact us to such a degree that we become almost paralyzed by them. It’s something that th...

There haven't been a lot of quiet moments for Tamzin Barriolhet since we last spoke: big time promotions, groundbreaking partnerships, and the arrival of Sophie. ABOUT THIS PODCAST The Sports Business Conversations podcast is a production of ADC Partners , a sports marketing agency that specializes in creating, managing, and evaluating effective partnerships between brands and sports. All rights r...

The next 10 years are kind of unprecedented for the United States in terms of global sporting events coming here. Let’s do a quick review: FIFA Club World Cup coming later this year. FIFA World Cup in 2026. LA Olympics in 2028. FIFA Women’s World Cup AND Rugby World Cup will both be here in 2031. Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2034. That’s a lot to take in. And it’s going to require a hercul...

With so many people interested in working in sports, it’s amazing how many successful sports biz execs I talk to didn’t start with that goal. A lot of them were caught completely off guard by the opportunity to do so. That’s definitely the case with this episode’s guest, Leela Srinivasan . The experienced tech CMO of companies like OpenTable and SurveyMonkey was just starting to wonder what might...

Consider for a moment, if you will, the humble stadium sign. Yes, those ubiquitous displays that vie for your attention at every stadium and arena you’ve ever been to. I think most people in sports business have been guilty at one time or another of looking at those signs a little derisively. You know. “Spots and Dots”, as they saying goes. The things you add toward the end of a sponsorship propos...

I think it’s fair to say that pain, and managing pain, is just part of a football players every day experience. It’s something a player just has to learn how to deal with. The entire culture of the sport kind of celebrates pain, right? “Play through the pain” “No pain no gain”. And my personal favorite: “Just Rub some dirt in it”. But there’s a human toll to all that pain. We’ve all seen stories o...

So a little personality quirk about me: I love to drive. On a long road trip, I’ll turn off the radio and cruise in silence. It’s one of the few times I can really just let my mind just unspool. This episode’s guest also loves to drive. In fact, Mike Rolih , the founder and CEO of GoRout , loves driving so much, he became a limo driver after his baseball playing career wound down. He would spend h...

On March 1, 2025, I had a chance to do a live interview with Jess Smith, President of the Golden State Valkyries , for the USF Sports Management Program . In our conversation, Jess talks about the decision to join the Valkyries, building the team’s front office, how she’ll evaluate success in this first year of operation, and what’s left to do with a little more than 2 months before the first tip...

There’s a line from Arthur Miller’s play “Death of a Salesman” that’s always stuck with me. It’s when the memory of Willy Loman’s successful older brother Ben is encouraging him to persevere when the going gets tough. Ben says, "The jungle is dark but full of diamonds, Willy. One must go in to fetch a diamond out." This episode’s guest, Chris Pearlman , the CEO of Aggregate Sports ? Well, suffice...

In this episode of "Catching Up", we reconnect with Episode 8 guest Ashley Chalk , who left Chip Ganassi Racing to become the VP of Partnerships for the Tomorrow Golf League . ABOUT THIS PODCAST The Sports Business Conversations podcast is a production of ADC Partners , a sports marketing agency that specializes in creating, managing, and evaluating effective partnerships between brands and sports...

Was there ever a point where you thought you wanted to be a sports agent? Look, most of us have. Call it the “Jerry Maguire” effect. The 1996 Tom Cruise movie was a first exposure to sports business for a lot of people. And it made the job seem pretty cool, right? Going to games with a lanyard around your neck that provides all kinds of access, rubbing elbows with athletes and owners, being down o...

What a world it is when you can be considered past your prime at age 27. But that’s pro baseball for you. That talent pipeline is always filling up with new players who are looking to take a roster spot. Even veterans as talented as Bobby Bramhall , a promising lefty pitcher, who’d come back from Tommy John surgery and was pitching better than ever, wasn't safe. But when the writing is on the wall...

Sports business moves pretty quickly. People change jobs, get involved with cool stuff, launch new companies. All kinds of stuff. So it makes sense, every so often, to catch up with a previous guest. This time, we’re catching up with Episode 5 guest Megan Sheffield , now Director of Brand Partnerships of Linkedin. Click here for our original episode (published on Sept 2023.)

People say a lot of interesting things on this podcast, but this quote from Mark McCullers , Principal of the McCullers Group , really caught my attention. He said: "You have to make the building sweat". Basically it means that if you’re thinking of building a sports facility, you have to make that barn work as hard as it possibly can for your organization. You have to squeeze every last drop of u...

Let’s start by just stating the obvious. There’s a lot of people out there who want to work in sports. My guest Scott Doyne of Doyne Services was one of those guys. And he pulled it off. Did all the things he needed to do: worked his tail off, got a job with Turner Sports to work on NASCAR and then the NBA, hooked into digital media when it was just starting to take off, and doing all the things t...